Drawer and file-holder.



G. B. MELENEY.

DRAWER AND FILE HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 31.1910.

Patented Feb. 6; 1912.

l I M G. B. MELENEY.

DRAWER AND FILE HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 31, 1910.

Patented Feb. 6, 1912 COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c GEORGE B. MELENEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DRAWER AND FILE-HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 6, 1912.

Application ii1ed May 31, 1910. Serial No. 564,224.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE B. NIELENEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Drawers and File-Holders, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in drawers and file holders for filing cabinets and is especially well adapted for that style of drawer intended to hold cards and provided with a follower.

One object of my invention is to provide a drawer with a yielding protector or covering over such portions of the drawer as are brought in contact with the desk or table when the drawer is removed from the cabinet.

A further object is the production of a drawer in which the front plate and a portion of the sides have a filling of resilient material, in order to do away with the dis agreeable metallic ring when the drawers are closed or when the drawers are knocked together.

A further object is the improvement of certain details of construction whereby the drawers are made stronger and more serviceable, and also means whereby the drawers are caused to run easily within the cabinet and held in horizontal position, when partly withdrawn from the cabinet.

A further object is the production of a device of simple construction and one which can be cheaply manufactured.

These and other objects hereinafter set forth are attained by my device, an embodiment of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 represents a perspective view of my device. Fig. 2 represents a sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows. Fig. 3 represents a fragmentary sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows. Fig. 1 represents a detail showing the bottom view of the locking mechanism for the follower. Fig. 5 represents an enlarged sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows. Fig. 6 represents a front view of a portion of a to the back of the drawer.

case with drawers removed. Fig. 7 represents an enlarged detail, showing the sliding engagement between the drawer and the case or cabinet. Fig. 8 represents a plan view of the blank from which the front of the drawer is formed, the folding of the material being indicated by dotted lines.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts in the several figures of drawing.

(A) represents a metallic drawer having a front (B) side walls (C), bottom (D) and back A follower (F) is adapted to travel on the top of the drawer. The side walls, back and bottom of the drawer are preferably formed from an integral piece of metal, bent or pressed into shape. At the sides a surplus amount of metal is preferably left whichis turned over as shown at (2), forming a supporting track for the follower. Extending over the entire bottom of the drawer and preferably upwardly on the sides and back is a piece of resilient material Any material may be used, but I prefer a good grade of felt. This material completely covers the corners and bottom edges and is held in place about the sides and back by means of a band (4) riveted or secured in any well known manner to the side walls of the drawer, thus binding the resilient material firmly in place. I have illustrated this band as provided with parallel ribs or corrugations (5) with a channel or way (6), the purpose of which will be explained later.

The front of the drawer is preferably formed from an integral piece of metal (7) as shown in Fig. 8, of such form as to be economically folded in shape and to inclose a sheet of resilient material (8) similar in character to that used in the other portions of the drawer. The front is secured in place by means of rivets (9) passing therethrough and into the turned in edges of the sides, and also through a second stiffening piece (10) corresponding The front is also provided with any suitable handle (11) and an opening is left for the insertion of a card (12) indicating the contents of the drawer.

The follower (F) may be of any desired style, but is here shown as comprising a supporting top (13) bent downwardly into the drawer, forming the follower member (14). On either side of the supporting piece (13) are mounted strips of metal turned downwardly at the edges of the drawer, forming flanges (16). The flanges project forwardly from the main body and are turned inwardly at the bottom (17) and also provided with downwardly projecting flanges 17 at the top. The flange (16) is also extended forwardly as shown at (18), having a. horizontal flange (19) at the top adapted to rest on the top of the track (2). By this construction, the follower is held loosely on the guide'(2).

In Fig. 4 I have shown the mechanism by means of which the follower is held rigid in any position on the top of the box. This comprises a plate (20) riveted on the under side of the follower support, carrying clamping members (22), having ratchet faces 22 adapted to press against the side of the drawer. The spring member (23) is held stationary with respect to the plate 20 by having its one end engaged with the end of the slot between the member y and the plate and normally holds the clamping member against the side of. the drawer. Thls clamping member is in fact a bell crank plvoted at 24: and having its opposite end adapted to be engaged by an ear (26) on the latch (27). This latch is turned upwardly as shown at 28, forming gripping members. It will thus be seen that when the follower is resting normally on the drawer the ratchet faces on either side press against the sides of the drawer, clamping the follower tightly in place. When, however, the gripping members (28) are pressed together, the ratchet faces are withdrawn from their engagement with the side and the follower can then be slid to any desired position on the drawer. This drawer is preferably used in combination with a cabinet (29) provided with a plurality of recesses (30) as shown in Fig. 6. The inner sides (31) 0f the recesses are provided with a single rib (32), so positioned as to engage the channel (6) between the corrugation when the drawer is inserted in the cabinet. This is clearly shown in Fig. 7.

It will be noted that the device as shown in the drawing is of extremelysimple construction and the metal is so used as to reduce the fastening devices to a minimum. For instance, the metal at the top is folded over forming the guides (2) for the follower frame. The front plate is also preferably formed from an integral blank as shown in Fig. 8 and folded over the cloth or other resilient filling. It will also be noted that the band (4) and the bottom of the front plate B are placed at a little distance above the bottom of the box, and also that the corners. of the front plate are slightly rounded as shown at 33, thus leaving no sharp metallic edges or corners in posltion to scratch any surface on which the drawer may be placed, or over which it niay he slid, as the felt or resilient material entirely covers the bot-tom edge and sides. By bringing the resilient material up under the band, in addition to providing a clamp for tlTe material I practically deaden the entire drawer, thus doing away almost entirely with the metallic ring that makes the use of the ordinary metallic' drawer so disagreeable.

By forming the band with the parallel ribs or corrugations with a channel 6therebetween and by providing the interior sides of the cabinet with the ribs, I provide a cheap and efiicient means of guiding the drawer as it is pulled out or pushed into the cabinet, and in addition thereto provide means to hold the drawer up when it is pulled partly out of the case. The band also serves to stiffen the drawer and permits the use of thinner material for the body of the drawer. Heretofore the bottoms of the metallic drawers and file holders have been entirely unprotected, and as they are often when in use pulled out of the case and put on tables and desks, such articles are scratched or marred and the use of the drawer is attended with much noise.

By the use of my improved device, all noise and danger of marring desks or tables is eliminated. WVhile the drawings show a file drawer for a cabinet, my device is well adapted for use in connection wit-h the ordinary desk tray or paper holder intended for use on desks and tables to hold papers, pins, rubbers, fasteners, etc.

Of course, I do not limit myself to any particular form of retaining band, nor to any particular form of resilient material, although I have found by experience that a good grade of flannel or felt will serve my purpose. It is evident that other forms of retaining bands or methods of securing theresilient material in place may be used, withvout departing from the spirit of my invention, which is primarily a tray, drawer or file holder, having the bottom, lower edges and corners protected.

I claim:

1. As a new article of manufacture a metallic file drawer, a resilient covering over the bottom, lower edges and corners, and a band encircling the sides of said drawer and holding said covering in place.

2. As a new article of manufacture a metallic file drawer, a resilient covering over the bottom, lower edges and corners and extending upwardly about the sides of the drawer, and a band encircling the sides of said drawer and holding said covering in position.

3. As a new article of manufacture a metallic file drawer, a resilient covering over the bottom, lower edges and corners and extending upwardly about the sides of the drawer and a band provided in part with a plurality of longitudinal ribs encircling the sides of said drawer, and holding said covering in position.

4. As a new article of manufacture a metallic file drawer, a resilient covering protecting its bottom, lower edges and corners, follower guides formed integrally with the sides of said drawer and a follower adapted to slide on said guides.

5. As a new article of manufacture a metallic file drawer, a resilient covering protecting its bottom, lower edges and corners, follower guides formed by bending over the upper portions of the material forming the sides of said drawer, and a follower adapted to slide on said guides.

6. As a new article of manufacture a metallic file drawer, a resilient covering protecting its bottom, lower edges and corners, the front of said drawer being provided with an interior layer of resilient material.

7. As a new article of manufacture ametallic file drawer, a resilient covering over the bottom, lower edges and corners and extending upwardly about the sides of the drawer, a band provided in part with a plurality of longitudinal ribs encircling the sides of said drawer, and holding said covering in position, the front of said drawer being provided with an interior layer of resilient material.

8. In an article of the class described the combination of a file cabinet having a plurality of recesses adapted to receive drawers, ribs extending longitudinally on the side walls of each of said recesses, a file drawer having a resilient covering over its bottom, lower edges and corners, and means on the sides of said drawer adapted to receive the ribs on the sides of said recesses, forming guides for said drawer.

9. In an article of the class described the combination of a file cabinet having a plurality of recesses adapted to receive drawers, ribs extending longitudinally on the side walls of each of said recesses, a file drawer having a resilient covering over its bottom, lower edges and corners, a band channeled in part encircling the drawer and holding said material in place, the channels in said band being adapted to receive the ribs on the sides of said recesses.

10. As a new article of manufacture, a metallic file drawer comprising a front filled with resilient material, a layer of resilient material completely covering the bottom and extending upwardly about the sides of said drawer, a ribbed band positioned above the bottom of said drawer and clamping said resilient material against the sides, the channel formed between said ribs serving to hold said drawer in horizontal position when it is pushed in or pulled out from the case.

11. As a new article of manufacture, a metallic file drawer comprising a front filled with resilient material, a portion of the metal comprising the sides being turned over and formed into guides, a follower adapted to travel on said guides, a layer of resilient material completely covering the bottom and extending upwardly about the sides of said drawer, a ribbed band posi tioned above the bottom of said drawer and clamping said resilient material against the sides, the channel formed between said ribs serving to hold said drawer in horizontal position when it is pushed in or pulled out from the case.

12. The combination with a file cabinet of means within said cabinet for engaging the sides of the drawer, a drawer adapted to slide within said cabinet and be engaged by said mearis, the bottom of said drawer being covered with a resilient material.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE B. MELENEY.

Witnesses:

FRED F. WHITE, 0. CZEKALA.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

